Christina Websell wrote:

wrote in message

I heard a very familiar *bap* on the bottom of my screen
door. I ran to the door, opened it, and there stood Smudge, as though
it hadn't been months since she last did this. [snip]

Are you now worried about how her new people are looking after her?
I wish she would come back home to you. Maybe she will, let's hope so.

She doesn't have any "new people" per se. There are several people in
the neighborhood who sort of look after her, which mostly means putting
down dry food for her.

I did approach a neighbor who likes her a lot, and in whose yard she
often sleeps. I know he doesn't have any other cats and I thought she
might enjoy being in his house. Mostly I'm worried about the upcoming
winter. It doesn't get frigid like it does in Mooch's territory, but
it's still raw and wet, not nice weather for kitties. I asked him if
he might consider adopting Smudge. I also said that if he didn't want
to take full responsibility for her, that if he just wanted to let her
sleep in his house at night during the winter, that would work for me,
too. He said he would think about it, and he seemed genuinely
interested.

Of course it would break my heart to actually give her up for adoption,
but maybe it won't come to that. And after the other night, I'm
thinking that maybe she'll bite the bullet and come into my place
on rainy, chilly nights.

Joyce

--
A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going
somewhere. -- Groucho Marx